Maou
by Porpora
Summary: [This story is really not technically fanfiction, since no elements I don't own are mentioned in it. However, it is a prequel to fanfiction. The story it was a prequel to has been cancelled, but there will be an MV of it, so look on my dA if you're interested.]


There were no humans on the island where I lived. It was a small one, after all.

For the most part, I was by myself. There were some birds, and small mammals, which I hunted. There were also some other animals, like the one tanuki. It left me alone, which was good. Maybe it had been attacked by another cat while on the other island—wherever it was—that it had come from. Or maybe, the faint scars on its muzzle were from my mother.

I'd come to the island many moons ago with my mother when I was just a young kit. She took care of me until one day she was gone unexpectedly. I used to blame the tanuki, but now I know that it wouldn't have killed her. It wouldn't want to. But I can't help but wonder what could've happened to her.

There was no one to talk to, and no one to ask. Of course, I'm a cat, and we are used to loneliness.

It is my belief that Mint came from a ship. Many passed my island, so it's fairly likely that's what happened. She never told me, at any rate. But she disliked me from the start. Was it because I was considered too ugly for a human to love? Being skinny, with yellow eyes that bulged out slightly and jagged whiskers, it wasn't too surprising. Add the kinked tail, shy nature, and the fact that I was black, and… Well, you know how people are about black cats.

Mint was different. She was pretty. What you would call black, though lighter than my coat, so I suppose you would call her slate gray. There were faint silver stripes on her tail and legs. She was large, but not overweight. This is one of the reasons she found me so easy to push around.

I found her soaking wet on the shore. She was shivering from the cold, for it was a cloudy and windy day. The pads on her feet were raw and bleeding from the sharp stones, which my paws had become accustomed to. I could tell she had a human because there was a blue collar around her neck. However, if she'd ended up here, I knew something must be wrong.

I trotted up to her. "Hi. Do you need some help?"

She shot a look at me that said, "I'm fine on my own." I sat in the sand next to her, the wind ruffling my long fur.

"I live here, you know. I really can help you."

Mint swished her tail. "I don't _need_ any help." She sat down and began licking her paw pads.

"Then why are you just sitting out here? Why are you all wet, anyway?"

Mint looked up, a growl rising in her throat. "Leave me alone."

I shrugged and sprinted away. I needed to get to shelter; there would be rain soon.

I took refuge in a hollowed-out area of a tree, which I had used before. It provided very good cover for the freezing rain that came so often around here. It had been especially bad recently, so I'd learned the signs.

A brief moment after ducking inside, thunder rumbled in the distance. I curled up in the pile of dead leaves I'd left here last time.

As I sat in the protection of my hollow, I couldn't help but feel concerned for Mint. I'd never met any cats besides her and my mother, but Mint did not seem like the kind of cat suited for island life. Especially with the collar on her neck, which would surely get caught on something.

When the storm finally stopped the next afternoon, I stretched and left the hollow. I immediately went to look for Mint, worried for her safety. Even though she didn't like me, that didn't mean I had to let her freeze to death somewhere. What kind of cat would I be if I did that?

When I finally found her, she was a ball of shivering, sodden fur, desperately grooming her pelt to try and get dry somehow. She flattened her ears when I approached.

I took a few steps back. "Do you need my help _now_?"

Finally, Mint surrendered. "Fine."

I took her to the hollow. Mint kept tripping on small roots and stones that I sidestepped. Covering the entrance was some sort of plant I'd never identified. It was kind of oily and kept the rain out. I pushed through it, and Mint followed, though a bit reluctantly.

"You can stay here and rest for a while," I told her. "That plant keeps the rain out."

Mint made a small sound of acknowledgement and curled up in the very center of the dead leaves, though she was still shivering.

I continued. "I'm not actually very sure what to do about you being wet, but… This should at least prevent you from getting _more_ wet, and that should help."

Mint twitched her ear and closed her eyes in return. I turned and left, though I did look back.

My paws made small sounds on the sand. It sounded just like I wasn't there at all, and it was only sand. I knew that only I could hear my steps.

There was a light rain, and each raindrop made a little pinprick in the sand. Some were larger than others, but many of them could fit in one of my paw prints.

I caught two mice and brought them back to share with Mint. She must have been hungry. I pushed through the plant obscuring the entrance and looked at her. She was sleeping soundly, and seemed to have dried off considerably. I could still see a shine of moisture on her fur, however.

I left the mice in front of her and sat in the corner. I groomed the white patch on my chest, which had become gray with some sort of filth. Outside, it rained harder. I heard the droplets fall on the tree we were in, and moved my ears all around.

When Mint woke up, she ate both of the mice, so I left to hunt for something for myself. However, it was raining too hard to get a scent, so I shook myself off and went back into the hollow. Now _I_ was cold.

I decided to take my own advice and lay in the hollow for a while. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, Mint was gone. The rain had stopped, but it was still very wet outside. I wondered where she could've gone.

I stepped outside of the hollow, but it was still too wet to catch the scent of anything but ozone. I paced around the island, which was fairly easy since it was so small. Not finding any sign of her, I climbed the tallest tree on the island. I could probably jump right to the top if I wanted to.

I heard some sort of rustling noise in the plant growth under me. My ears perked up, and I stared forward. But a brown snout emerged, and I saw that it was only the tanuki. Its eyes were shining at me through the plant.

Disappointed, I jumped down from the tree. Now I wasn't sure what to do. Should I go wait back at the hollow, or try and find her in the center of the island?

Then I realized the empty feeling in my stomach. _Okay_, I thought, _I'll hunt first._

I caught some small fish from the stream. They were about the size of my ear, so had to catch several of them to be full.

After I had eaten, I felt guilty. _What if she's hurt somewhere? _I raced back to the hollow as fast as I could, calling for Mint. But it was empty, a cat-shaped impression in the dead leaves in the corner. I sniffed them. The scent was stale. Nothing new since last night.

I left the hollow and scanned the area for amber eyes, or a blue collar. The latter I found, but it was not on Mint.

The collar lay in the sand near the beach, but beyond where the water reached. The buckle was still fastened, but the collar itself was torn. I realized that either she tore it off, or it came off on its own somehow. There were many things a collar could get caught on in this island.

I sniffed it. Mint's scent was fresh on it. _Good. She must be nearby._

I left the collar and searched for Mint some more, my enthusiasm refreshed to find her. Finally, I got a whiff of her scent.

I raced toward the direction from which it came, into a small clearing. "Mint!" I yelled. "Are you here?"

I never saw it coming. She attacked from behind, knocking me toward the ground. It was Mint, but she had ruffled fur and sand caked in her paws like I did. I struggled to shove her off me, feeling confused and hurt.

Finally I got on my back and kicked at her. Sand got into her eyes, and she finally let me go. I backed away, my fur bushed up in fear.

"Why did you do that?" I asked her, my ears flattened.

Mint glared at me, her amber eyes narrowed to slits. "There's no way off this island."

I blinked, wondering what she meant by that. But she continued. "If I can't go back, then I'll have to live here… And I'm not sharing with you."

My claws dug into the dirt. "You can stay here with me, Mint! I don't mind sharing, and there's certainly enough space—"

Mint jumped on me, sinking her fangs into my neck. I hissed and clawed at her, but Mint clawed back, and I felt a piece of my soft ear skin tear away. I rolled, and Mint slammed into the ground. Her grip on my neck was knocked loose, and I immediately swiveled and fluffed up my fur, hissing.

Mint crouched down, her ears flat against her head. Mine were as well. I could tell that my torn ear was bleeding.

I didn't look like it, but I was scared. I'd never been in a real fight before. My heart raced as I realized that Mint wanted to kill me.

Mint growled at me again. She lunged, and I swatted at her face, leaving claw marks on her nose.

_I don't want to fight her._

I turned and fled, as fast as I could. Mint tried to follow, but stumbled. I streaked up a tree for a break.

I was panting, and my neck hurt. It was probably bleeding as well. It was hard to tell, since the only thing I could smell was the metallic tang of blood.

Mint limped over, holding her paw up against her chest. I could tell it was injured. She growled up at me.

My fur bristled. I hissed back at her. But I was still afraid.

I stayed in the tree all night. The leaves were actually pretty comfortable, and the bark was covered in moss. Luckily, it didn't rain during the night.

But in the morning, I was jolted awake by a rumbling noise. _Oh, no…_

It was an earthquake, another common thing for this island. I leapt down from the tree and landed hard on one of my front paws. But there was no time to worry about that now.

I ran to the only place of safety I knew of —the hollow tree—hoping Mint wouldn't be there. She wasn't, fortunately for me. I let out a sigh of relief and curled up in the dead leaves. _But where is she? _ I shook the thought away. I'd worry about her later. Besides, she didn't deserve my hospitality, not after attacking me like that.

The rumbling grew louder, and everything began to shake. Whenever I opened my eyes, I felt disoriented, so I kept them squeezed shut. My ears were pressed against my head. The torn one had stopped bleeding, but now dried blood was caked to the area where the flesh had been torn away. It messed up my hearing, but that didn't matter when all you could hear was the rumbling of the earth.

I heard a crash, and poked my nose under the plant in the entrance, curious. The earth had split slightly, but it was enough for a small tree to come down. I curled up in the corner and hoped I wouldn't get more hurt than I already was.

Finally, the quake stopped. My ears moved forward, and I opened an eye. The plant was brushed aside as if a larger animal had tried to get inside, but sticking out of the spot was a branch.

I shakily got to my feet and walked over to the branch. Another tree had fallen nearby mine, and that was what was poking through the hole. I squeezed past the branch and looked at the landscape.

There were small rents in the land everywhere I looked. Trees lay on the ground, and undergrowth was disturbed.

I didn't particularly want to, but my conscious wouldn't let me get away without finding Mint.

I wandered around for a while, climbing over trees, rocks, and anything else in the way. My front paw was still a bit sensitive, but I could walk fine.

I saw a chunk of earth that was missing from the island. Curious about where it could've gone, I walked over to where it had been.

It was on the beach, down where the sand was wet and packed tightly together. I looked into the water, but only saw the sand, some shells, and a few tiny fish that quickly darted away. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Standing there, I caught a whiff of Mint's scent on the salty breeze. _Could she be trapped under something?_

I tried looking for the source, but it was nowhere to be found. It had only blown in on wind.

I was about to leave when a small something floated into view. It was very far away, and appeared to be a chunk of bark. As it floated closer, I saw a dark lump of something clinging to it.

It was Mint.

I stood there for a moment, uncertain. Then I took a deep breath and plunged into the cold, salty water. I had to get to her, see if she was okay.

Despite what you may think about cats and water, we can actually swim quite well. I had only done it before a few times, but I was good nonetheless. Mint was most certainly not, seeing as she was clinging to that piece of bark.

When I got to her, I saw that the bark was larger than I had first thought. There was even room for me on it.

I dug my claws into the wood and pulled myself up. Mint stared at me, her eyes empty. I went to the edge of the wood, as far away from Mint as I could get, and shook myself off. A few drops of water got on Mint, which seemed to wake her up. Her ears moved forward, toward me, as I began to groom myself.

Mint blinked slowly, as if recognizing me. She sat up, rocking the piece of bark we were on.

"Hello, Mint," I said evenly. She nodded at me.

"So, why are you here?" she asked.

"Well… I dunno, I think I'm going to rescue you or something."

Mint shrugged and sat back down. "You can try."

I hadn't really thought this plan through, I realized. And the island was getting farther and farther away, smaller and smaller. Soon it disappeared entirely.

_What now?_

We were on that piece of bark for two nights, at least. I had managed to catch some of the tiny fish, but our throats were parched.

Mint woke me up.

"What?" I asked her, blinking. But she didn't respond.

I realized then that the bark had stopped moving. I stood up and stretched. It felt so good.

I finally decided to look around at my surroundings. We had hit land.

But this was no tiny island. No, this was the huge area of earth that I came to call the _mainland_.

Mint was on the shore. Her tail quivered as she stared at me. "Where did you go?" I asked her, scratching my ear.

"I found water."

I followed her to the pool. I was careful not to drink too much, because my mother had warned me I would just throw it back up.

We travelled together for a while, but it wasn't because we were friends now. We knew we couldn't be.

At a hill, I looked down and saw a strange sight. Tall structures of a shiny material. Shorter ones with plants on top of them. They were all packed closely together.

And there were humans everywhere.

This wasn't a very pleasing sight, but humans tend to keep cats, so maybe there would be others around as well.

I looked up and saw that Mint had gone. I might've looked for her, but I figured she would find somewhere to live. Maybe another human to take care of her. Or maybe, she might learn how to live in the wild like I had.

I never saw her again.

I decided to take refuge on the streets. There were lots of other cats there, and we were sort of like a family. I never did find a human who would care for me.

I was what they'd call an alley cat now, and I was happy.

Sometimes, I would think about the island and my time on it. I wondered if there had been more earthquakes, and what had become of the tanuki.

Here there were less frequent earthquakes, and the humans would give me scraps on days when hunting was hard. Even when it was easy. I had the other cats for company, and for the first time since my mother had disappeared, I wasn't lonely.

I had been through a lot, but my adventures were not over yet.


End file.
